Alaska CruiseTour Review 5/28 - 6/10; Diamond Princess; From planning to trip pics

[CT Granny]

I also enjoyed your review. We don't enjoy the large ships but you have demonstrated how to make them work for us.

 

We were last in Alaska in 1994 on the Yorktown Clipper. We added on a train trip to Denali and Fairbanks which we did on our own.

 

We will be doing a small boat cruise in 2014. While they are expensive, you don't have many extras. I've started my research by reading your review and OCD Planner's review.

 

Thanks for refreshing my memory.

 

Barbara

[dyank]

Sounds like a great trip. Thanks for sharing your review!

[kamac56]

We were on the diamond a few years back but it was a cruise land tour our room was for some reason upgraded before we got there, we had booked a mini suite and ended up surprised to say the least that we were put in the singapore suite on the emerald deck. YOU brought me back to that wonderful vacation. We too skipped the formal nights and had dinner in our room which was awesome. Thank you for bringing me back to that vacation, we loved the train and denali and thought the same as you LOL for the rooms at McKinley and Denali but....would do it again tomorrow!:D

[jrose529]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. I am in the process of trying to convince DH to take an Alaskan cruise tour. Your review of the Diamond Princess has me leaning toward this ship. We have cruised Celebrity, Disney, NCL, RCCL and Carnival and I wasn't sure which line to take to Alaska. The only line I would never cruise again is Carnival! We hated our two Carnival cruises! Disney was our favorite, but they don't have cruise tours and I don't want to plan the land part on my own. I want the cruise line to handle our luggage.

Thanks again!

Judy

From your review and other posts, it seems as if Princess is the way to go. My big concern is the lack of air conditioning in the lodges. DH has a really hard time sleeping if he's too hot.

[KroozFoolz]

I really enjoyed reading your review! Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[sue402001]

Sounds like you got wonderful memories from this cruise, thanks for sharing them!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful review.

Your pictures are great.

[margob111]

Great review. I'm on the Coral Princess next May doing the land tour first and a mini suite. I'm going to re-evaluate the suite vs mini suite. Your itinerary is the same as ours or close, so appreciate your reviews. Isn't the planning overwhelming to start? I had to laugh because you expressed my thoughts perfectly. Glad you had a great time and I'm looking forward to mine. Thanks for a great review. I'm going to bookmark it for reference.

[camping mom]

Thanks for the great info and pictures!!! I saw you mentioned dining at Sabatini's for breakfast. I know this is a specialty restaurant and thought they just served dinner. Also, where did you find out about the tour of the ship?

Thanks

[L-in-CLT]

Thanks for the great info and pictures!!! I saw you mentioned dining at Sabatini's for breakfast. I know this is a specialty restaurant and thought they just served dinner. Also, where did you find out about the tour of the ship?

Thanks

 

The ultimate ship tour is highlighted on the Princess website and many folks on CC talk about it. Just go to the customer service desk when you first embark and ask to be put on the list. As for Sabatini's's -it's open for breakfast just for guests staying in full suites.

 

So very glad folks are enjoying the review. I'm looking forward to writing my next one...just can't decide what itinerary for South America!

[ROCruiser]

What a trip! Thanks for sharing. Brought back a lot of memories of our Alaska cruise tour also on the Diamond Princess. Enjoyed the amazing photos.

[Bimmer09]

Alaska 2013

 

I've read so many excellent reviews of various cruises on Cruise Critic, and am amazed at their level of detail. And all of that detail certainly helped me as I was planning my vacation – and somehow got me through all the anticipation leading up to our cruise! I think I read Bimmer09’s Diamond Princess review 100 times! I'm quite certain that if I hadn’t started writing my thoughts down when I did, I’d never have remembered it all. >>

 

I am so glad that my Diamond Princess ramble helped you get excited and plan for your cruise tour! I re-read it just yesterday after someone was prompted to friend me on Facebook having read it and today I have sat outside in pleasant weather and enjoyed catching up on your own review. It was a page-turner (touch-pad scroller, call it what you will) and a brisk read.

 

You have one-up on me as I am a long way from doing a cruise tour as I can't be away from work for more than 9 days otherwise my company will crumble overnight and all the many layers of Executives will be dumpster-diving to stay alive. So I went on the tour with you, via your narrative and photo journal.

Like you, the anticipation is something that makes bearable the long wait for the cruise to happen. All the research and planning can be Advil-inducing but if you do your homework and the weather cooperates it all pays off.

 

My TC (Traveling Companion) Carol and I have a couple of acronyms that we live by (inspired by David Mamet's script for the Glengarry Glenross movie)

 

ABP...A Always B Be P Planning (have the next trip lined up to defray the disappointment of coming home after a great cruise)

 

ABE.... A Always B Be Early- for airports in particular

 

Let us all know when you form a plan to visit South America!

 

Thanks again for the kind words and for the stellar review!

 

Norris

[Kimahri]

Just finished and enjoyed your review:D

We're going to Alaska next year with RC and the land portion on our own. We are eventually planning on taking a Princess cruise somewhere.

Thanks for the information

[1153rsmith]

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to do it. Does anyone have any experience with the other Princess ships sailing Alaska? I think the tours we have been looking at are on the Coral Princess.

 

Are any of the meals included on the land portion of the trip? If so, which ones?

 

We are planning on going with our two teenagers as well as two of my brothers and their spouses. A total of 8 in 3 cabins. We are looking at the mini-suites to give my teens each a separate bed.

[murphy4]

this was a wonderful review! thanks for all of the info!

[L-in-CLT]

How fun that folks are still reading my review! So glad you enjoyed it. Our South America cruise is locked in for 2015 and we getting ready to explore the Caribbean this spring!

[Paula_MacFan]

I just read your wonderful review -- thanks so much for taking the time to post it. Very comprehensive! We're going RT from Seattle in May, so different than your trip, but still enjoyed your reviews and observations for the ports we'll be visiting.

[Leebies]

I also want to thank you for your review, it's really whetted my apatite for planning our own Alaskan cruise and land trip!

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Looking to book an Alaska cruisetour in 2015 and your info from planning through the entire experience was exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Thanks so much.

Hope your South America trip is a blast.

cheers,

Matt in Austin TX

[alyxkat]

great review, thanks for sharing! I'm getting ready for my upcoming June 2014 cruisetour, and my process is sounding a lot like yours - even down to printing up the customized excursion booklet (ours was 57 pages), worrying about motion sickness, and trying to get my bf to do even a tiny bit of research.

 

I'm getting really excited about this trip, and your review has inspired me to try documenting my trip too! Thanks again for sharing! It's nice to know that i'm not the only one afraid of being scolded for asking newbie questions on the board :D

[wnycruisefam66]

Thanks for the enjoyable review! I'm going to be booking today for an Alaska cruise in 2015. I'll be reading everything I can find & your tips are very helpful!

[L-in-CLT]

Leaving next month on RCI Brilliance and we are finally under 350 days for South America! I re-read my Alaska review every once in awhile just to make the waiting bearable. :) We still talk about this trip with awe...

Cheers!

L

[mya603]

Thanks for the review. This is the second Princess land/cruise review that I've read and both were glowing! I think I will book Princess for myself if my friends do not go with me. NCL is their choice and that's why we booked it. But if they do not go I am canceling NCL and booking Princess. Thank you so much!

[L-in-CLT]

Thanks for the review. This is the second Princess land/cruise review that I've read and both were glowing! I think I will book Princess for myself if my friends do not go with me. NCL is their choice and that's why we booked it. But if they do not go I am canceling NCL and booking Princess. Thank you so much!

 

 

Glad you enjoyed it. Alaska continue to be my all time favorite vacation!

[L-in-CLT]

And here I am, 5 years later, re-reading my Alaska review and grinning ear to ear. This continues to be BY FAR our favorite vacation to date. We've done several cruises since but none as enjoyable as Alaska. Nice that this review is still here; the memories are like it happened yesterday...